Understanding the Prime Infrastructure User Interface

When you first log in to Prime Infrastructure, an overlay window shows you the major components of the graphical interface. To view this overlay window again, click your login name at the top-right of the screen, then choose
Help > Getting Started
.

Toolbar

Type to search for data within Prime Infrastructure. You can enter any text string such as a partial or complete IP address or a username.

4

Displays the number of alarms, and the color corresponds to the highest severity level alarm in your network. Click to display the alarm summary window, displaying all alarms and the number of critical, major, and minor alarms.

5

Displays login name and the virtual domain to which you are assigned. Click to change your user preferences, change your password, log out, access help, and submit product feedback.

Dock Window

If you typically visit a small subsection of pages in Prime Infrastructure, the Dock window provides a quick way to navigate quickly to those pages. From any page in Prime Infrastructure, you can click the Dock icon (in the upper right corner) to quickly view:

Pinning Devices to a Dock Window

If there are specific devices that you want to watch closely, you can
pin
the devices to the Dock window. You can have a maximum of 15 pinned items.

Step 1 From the Device 360° view, click the Add to Doc icon.

The device appears under the Pinned Items section of the Dock window.

Step 2 Click on the device link in the Dock window from anywhere in Prime Infrastructure, and the Device 360° view appears with updated information.

Step 3 To remove an item from the Dock window, click the Trash icon next to the item. It is removed from Pinned Items.

Filters

You can use the Filter feature to display specific information about the Prime Infrastructure interface. The Filter icon is provided wherever the data is displayed in a tabular format. The following types of filters are available:

Performing a Quick Filter

This filter allows you to narrow down the data inside a table by applying a filter to a specific table column or columns. To apply different operators, use the Advanced Filter option (see Performing an Advanced Filter).

To launch the quick filter, choose Quick Filter from the Filter drop-down list.

To clear the Quick Filter, click
Filter
.

Performing an Advanced Filter

This filter allows you to narrow down the data in a table by applying a filter using multiple operators such as Does not contain, Does not equal, Ends with, Is empty, and so on. For example, you can choose the filter pattern by table column names and the operator from the drop-down list. In addition, you must enter filter criteria based on the data available in the Prime Infrastructure database.

Step 2 Change the settings in any of the
Filters
toolbar options, then click
Go
.

Data Entry Features

In addition to the check boxes, drop-down lists and data entry fields common in most user interfaces, Prime Infrastructure uses some specialized data-entry features. These features are designed to keep your view of the network as uncluttered as possible, while still making it possible for you to add, update, and save your settings when needed. These specialized data-entry features include:

Edit Tables

Prime Infrastructure uses tables to display many kind of data, including lists of sites, devices, and events. The data is arranged in rows and columns, much like a spreadsheet.

An edit table differs from other tables in that you can add, edit, or delete the data it contains. Some edit tables also give you access to filters (see Filters). Edit tables are often displayed in data popups that are triggered by check boxes.

Figure A-4 Edit Table

To use edit tables:

To add a new row in the edit table:

Click the (+) icon, complete the fields in the new row, and click
Save
.

To delete one or more existing rows in an edit table:

Select the row header check box (at the extreme left of each row), then click
Delete
.

To update an entry in any field in any edit table row:

Click the row header or on the field itself, edit the contents, then click
Save
.

Data Popups

A data popup is a window associated with a check box, anchored field, or other data-entry feature. It is displayed automatically when you select a feature, so that you can view or update the data associated with that feature. In addition to containing check boxes, drop-down lists, and data-entry fields, data popups can also contain edit tables.

To use a data popup:

1. Select the feature that triggers the data popup, such as an anchored field or a check box.

2. With the associated popup displayed, view or update the fields as needed.

3. When you are finished, click anywhere outside the data popup. If you entered new information or changed existing information, your changes are saved automatically.

Click the button located at the bottom right side of the graph. Prime Infrastructure displays an enlarged version of the graph in a separate page. The
View in Chart
and
View in Grid
toggle buttons are available in the new page, so you can change the type of enlarged graph displayed.

Time-based Graphs

Some graphs display time-based data. For these time-based graphs, Prime Infrastructure provides a link bar at the top of the graph. The link bar contains a set of links representing standard time-frames (such as the last six hours, one day, and so on) appropriate for the type of data in the chart. When you select one of these time-frame links, the data for that time frame is retrieved and the graph is refreshed to show only the data for that time-frame.

The time-frame links displayed in time-based graphs include the following:

6h—Denotes the last six hours of data from the current time. The data is gathered from the current database table.

1d—Denotes the last day (24 hours) of data from the current time. The data is gathered from the current database table.

1w—Denotes the last week (seven days) of data from the current time. The data is gathered from the hourly aggregated table.

2w—Denotes the last two weeks of data from the current time. The data is gathered from the hourly aggregated table.

4w—Denotes the last four weeks of data from the current time. The data is gathered from the hourly aggregated table.

3m—Denotes the last three months of data from the current time. The data is gathered from the daily aggregated table.

6m—Denotes the last six months of data from the current time. The data is gathered from the weekly aggregated table.

1y—Denotes the past year (12 months) of data from the current time. The data is gathered from the weekly aggregated table.

Custom—User-selected time period. You can set the day and time for the start and end dates. The use of a current or hourly, daily, or weekly aggregated source for data depends upon the selected start date.

The default, maximum and minimum retention periods for the aggregated data displayed in time-based graphs are controlled by Prime Infrastructure administrators. For details, see “About Historical Data Retention” in Related Topics.

Changing Your Password

Step 1 Click your login name at the top-right of the screen and choose
Change Password
.

Step 2 Click the information icon to review the password policy.

Step 3 Enter a new password as directed and click
Save
.

Changing Your Active Domain

Step 1 Click your login name at the top-right of the screen and choose
Virtual Domain
.

Step 2 Choose a domain from the list of domains of which you are a member.

Setting Your Home Page

Step 1 Navigate to the page that you want to set as your home page.

Step 2 Click your login name at the top-right of the screen and choose
Set Current Page as Home
.

Changing User Preferences

You can modify how many items are displayed on list pages, map settings, idle timeout settings, and alarm display options.

Step 1 Click your login name at the top-right of the screen and choose
My Preferences
.

Step 2 Modify any of the settings, then click
Save
.

Getting Device Details from Device 360° View

The Device 360° View provides detailed device information including device status, interface status, and associated device information. You can see the device 360° view from nearly all pages in which device IP addresses are displayed.

To launch the 360° view of any device, click the info icon next to the device IP address.

Note Search parameters might change depending on the selected category. When applicable, enter the additional parameter or filter information to help identify the Search By category. For example, when you select Floor Area, you also must identify its campus and building. Or, if you select Alarms, you can search for access points based on the severity of the alarm.

Note Search parameters might change depending on the selected category. When applicable, enter the additional parameter or filter information to help identify the Search By category. For example, when you select IP address, you must enter the specific IP address for this search.

Select the check box and choose the applicable SSID from the drop-down list.

Profile

Select the check box to list all of the clients associated to the selected profile.

Note Once the check box is selected, choose the applicable profile from the drop-down list.

CCX Compatible

Select the check box to search for clients that are compatible with Cisco Client Extensions.

Note Once the check box is selected, choose the applicable version, All Versions, or Not Supported from the drop-down list.

E2E Compatible

Select the check box to search for clients that are end–to–end compatible.

Note Once the check box is selected, choose the applicable version, All Versions, or Not Supported from the drop-down list.

NAC State

Select the check box to search for clients identified by a certain Network Admission Control (NAC) state.

Note Once the check box is selected, choose the applicable state from the drop-down list: Quarantine, Access, Invalid, and Not Applicable.

Include Disassociated

Select this check box to include clients that are no longer on the network but for which Prime Infrastructure has historical records.

Items per page

Configure the number of records to be displayed in the search results page.

Searching Chokepoints

You can configure the following parameters when performing an advanced search for chokepoints (see
Table A-10).

Table A-11 Search Chokepoint Fields

Field

Options

Search By

Choose
MAC Address
or
Chokepoint Name
.

Note Search parameters might change depending on the selected category. When applicable, enter the additional parameter or filter information to help identify the Search By category. For example, when you select MAC address, you must enter the specific MAC address for this search.

Searching Events

You can configure the following parameters when performing an advanced search for events (see
Table A-12).